Brief Overview

The EU began as the European Steel and Coal Community in 1953 with the intent to regulate the capacity of large metal fabricating industries. The six original Member States - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands - signed the ESCC Treaty and began the process of European integration. Since then, the EU has developed in stages with the creation of an economic community, development of a single market and the removal of many trade restrictions and border controls. In recent years, the EU has developed a common foreign affairs policy and improved cooperation among Member States on justice and home affairs. Currently, the EU is made up of two communities - the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Community (EC).

EU government policy is divided into three "pillars" which consist of the following:

Pillar

Policy Content

I

The three communities of the European Coal and Steel Community, the Economic Community and Euratom

The principal offices of the EU are located in Brussels, Belgium, although other EU institutions have offices in Luxembourg; Frankfurt, Germany; and Strasbourg, France.

Recent Developments

Beyond Enlargement

In May 2004, ten new countries joined the European Union, bringing the number of member states to twenty-five. Since this enlargement included many Eastern European and Baltic countries, it has greatly expanded the geographic scope of the EU, as well introducing many new official languages. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union. On July 1, 2013, Croatia joined the EU bringing the total number of countries to 28.

Further enlargement is still being planned. Entry negotiations were begun with Turkey in 2005. The application for admission by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was accepted by the EU in December 2005, although there is not yet a schedule for entry negotiations. Iceland's application for admission was accepted in July of 2007 and negotiations began in July of 2010. Montenegro received candidate status on December 17, 2010. In addition, the EU is looking at the possibility of the other Western Balkan countries joining in the future when they are sufficiently ready. These would include Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Serbia.

However, on Thursday, June 23, 2016 more than 30 million British people voted their decision on whether the United Kingdom should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52% to 48%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%. For the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, it has to invoke an agreement called Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which gives the two sides two years to agree the terms of the split. If, theoretically speaking, the United Kingdom could exit the Union by 2018, nothing is clear: Article 50 was only created in late 2009 and it has never been used.

Included on this page is a link to the most recent Strategy Paper relating to the progress toward accession by Iceland, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, and Turkey. There is also a discussion of the further enlargement for countries in the Western Balkans and the Stabilisation and Assocation Process, which is a precursor program to assist these countries in meeting the EU's requirements.

Various articles on EU Enlargement policies and how they relate to issues of Constitutionalism

Martin Sajdik and Michael Schwarzinger., European Union enlargement : background, developments, facts (2008) Lehman Library,European Union Enlargement, written by two diplomats directly involved in the process, offers an intense and detailed analysis of the almost ten-year process of preparing and negotiating the accession of Eastern, Southeastern, and Central European countries, as well as Mediterranean countries to the European Union. In the end, ten joined in 2004, with two more to follow in 2007.

R. Langeuiesche, and A. Toth (eds.), The Unity of Europe: Political, Economic and Social Aspects of EU Enlargement. (2001)

This book provides an introduction to the EU enlargement process. It was produced following the 2000 joint conference of the European Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Institute. There are transcripts of the speeches made at the conference relating to the political, economic and social factors involved in enlarging the EU.

Enlargement Strategy Paper: Report on progress towards accession by each of the candidate countries. (2001)

The report from the European Commission gives a broad overview of the reasons for enlargement and the strategies involved in accession. It also provides a look at where each candidate country was in the accession process as of 2000. Although the information regarding the countries is not current, this is still an interesting resource because it shows what the countries were doing to prepare themselves for membership in the EU, as well as what the EU was seeking from prospective members.

Adapting the Institutions to Make a Success of Enlargement: Commission Opinion. (2000)

This commission opinion presents a strategy for adapting the EU institutions as enlargement progresses. It analyzes how the institutions currently operate and suggests possible options for their development and evolution as a result of the 2004 enlargement.

C. Ross, Perspectives on the Enlargement of the European Union. (2002)

This volume is a compilation of articles relating to the enlargement of the EU. Its purpose is to provide a historical account of the enlargement process and to analyze the current status of and future developments in the accession countries. There are chapters relating to region-wide issues and others which provide more in-depth looks at individual countries.

This book addresses the question of how the 2004 enlargement would impact the European Union as a whole. It reviews the historical development of the different enlargements of the EU and places the 2004 enlargement within the larger context. Chapters in the book look at the key social, political, economic and external issues relating to enlargement and the EU.

P. Elsuwege, From Soviet republics to EU member states : a legal and political assessment of the Baltic states' accession to the EU. (2008)

EURO

On January 1, 1999, the European Union implemented the Euro as a single economic unit and on January 1, 2002, paper and coin Euros came into circulation.Fitteen of the 27 current EU members had adopted the Euro as their official currency and are part of the "Euro Area". This includes Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, three of the countries which joined the EU in 2004. The rest of the new EU countries are "Member States with derogation", which means they are working toward the adoption of the Euro. There are variable timetables for the implementation of the Euro within these countries.The United Kingdom and Denmark opted out of the Euro. Originally, Sweden had also opted out of the Euro, but it is now considered a "Member State with derogation", although a timeframe has not been established for adoption. The most recent country to adopt the Euro is Estonia, which adopted it in 2011.

This website contains information relating to the participating members in the EURO, legislation used in its implementation, as well as an archive of papers discussing the changeover to the EURO. This website also contains reports on the progress of the expansion of the Euro Area in the section on documents.

Constitution for the European Union and the Treaty of Lisbon

Between February 2002 and July 2003, the Convention on the Future of Europe took place with the intent of developing a draft constitution for the EU. The Draft Constitution was completed and presented to the President of the EU by the President of the Convention on July 18, 2003. The final version of the proposed constitution, called the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, was signed by the heads of state on October 29, 2004. It was submitted to the member states for ratification. Although it has been ratified by fifteen countries, the Treaty was defeated in France and the Netherlands in June 2005. Following those defeats, the European Council decided to review the constitution and the ratification process in early 2006. In their June 2006 meeting, the European Council extended the period of review and reflection for another two years.

After this period of review, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed on December 13, 2007 and entered into force on December 1, 2009. The Treaty of Lisbon replaces the Constitution.

This book discusses the status, structure and reasons for the Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) held by the European Union. There is specific focus on the constitutional IGCs that are being used for the purpose of developing a constitution of the EU. It presents a historical background of IGCs dating from the 1950s and also explores the reasons for the recently increased occurrence of the IGCs.

C Church and D. Phinnemore, Understanding the European Constitution: An introduction to the EU Constitutional Treaty. (2006) KJE 4445 .C49 2006 4th Floor

This book provides analysis of the main features of the European Constitution. The focus is on Part I of the Constitution, but it also briefly introduces materials realated to the other parts of the document. There is discussion of the history and development of the constitution and a look at the ratification process.

This book looks at the ratification process of the European Constitution in each member state. The materials are presented first for the countries that have approved the constitution, then the two where ratification failed and lastly the countires in which the ratification process is on hold pending decisions by the EU on the future of the constitution. The analysis addresses the question of how the European Constitution has impacted the national constitution within the countries.

Principal Institutions of the EU - Brief Descriptions

Following are brief descriptions of the principal institutions of the EU, focusing on each institution's legal activities and structure. Subsequent sections contain more detailed instructions on legal research related to each institution.

European Commission

The European Commission is the primary generator of new legislation in the EU. The Commission proposes new legislation and launches new policy initiatives. The Commission also serves as the executive of the EU and enters into international agreements on behalf of the EU. In addition, the Commission is the guardian of EU policy and can initiate legal proceedings to ensure compliance with EU policy and legislation.

The commission currently consists of 27 Commissioners, one from each Member State. One of these 27 members acts as the President. Each commissioner has a separate portfolio - an area of policy concern. The staff of the Commission is organized into 36 Directorates-General ("DG") or departments which have distinct areas of responsibility. Previously, DG's were referred to by Roman numeral but since September 1999 (six months after the Commission resigned en masse under pressure because of serious allegations of corruption), DG's have been reorganized as follows and are no longer referred to by number:

Area

Department

General Services

Secretariat General

European Anti-Fraud Office

Eurostat

Press and Communication

Publications Office

Policies

Agriculture

Competition

Economic and Financial Affairs

Education and Culture

Employment and Social Affairs

Energy and Transport

Enterprise

Environment

Fisheries

Health and Consumer Protection

Information Society

Internal Market

Joint Research Centre

Regional Policy

Research

Taxation and Customs Union

External Relations

Development

Enlargement

EuropeAid - Co-operation Office

External Relations

Humanitarian Aid Office - ECHO

Trade

Internal Services

Budget

Financial Control

Group of Policy Advisers

Internal Audit Service

Joint Interpreting and Conference Service

Legal Service

Personnel and Administration

Translation

Each directorate-general maintains an individual web site that contains information on the policy area for which it is responsible. Frequently, working papers and preliminary reports prepared by the DG are available on its web site. The European Commission's Directorates-General and Services webpage provides links to individual Commission departments.

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council of Ministers, is a separate and distinct body from the European Council described below. Composed of selected ministers from each Member State, the Council exercises legislative power along with the European Parliament. The Council operates through committees such as the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER).

European Parliament

Originally, the European Parliament had little political power or authority. But, after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force in December of 2009, the Parliament has robust decision making authority. The European Parliament shares legislative power equally with the Council of the European Union. This means it is empowered to adopt European laws (directives, regulations etc,). It can accept, amend or reject the content of European legislation. The Parliament has no authority to propose legislation directly, but may request the European Commission to propose legislation.

This political assembly of 766 members is directly elected by the citizens of the EU Member States. Representation is roughly proportional to the population of the EU Member States. Members of the European Parliament are sometimes referred to as MEP's.

European Council

Consisting of the heads of state (presidents and prime ministers) of EU members, the European Council meets twice a year, usually in January and June. The President of the Council is appointed for a 2 1/2 year period by a double majority of the other Council members. The President hosts the Council meeting. The Council does not have legislative power, but rather it develops, defines and prioritizes the main political issues for the EU. This body is distinct and separate from the Council of the European Union described above.

European Court of Justice

Consisting of 28 judges and 8 advocates general, the Court of Justice interprets and adjudicates disputes over EU law, a separate body of law distinct from and supreme over the law of the Member States. The judges are elected by common accord among the Member States.

General Court

Consisting of one judge from each Member Country, the General Court (previously called the "Court of First Instance"), is an intermediate appellate court which also decides disputes regarding EU law. This court was created in 1989 to alleviate delays in deciding cases because of an increased caseload. The court's jurisdiction is focused on competition cases and staff cases. It does not hear actions brought by Member States.

Committee of the Regions

Created by the Treaty of Maastricht (1992), the Committee of Regions is a consultative body composed of over 300 members who serve four year terms. Membership is roughly proportional to the populations of the Member States. The Council of the European Union appoints members proposed by Member States who are generally local, municipal or regional officials. The COR must be consulted during the legislative process regarding laws affecting trans-European infrastructure, education, culture, environment, or employment or having a particular local or regional effect. The COR issues opinions at the request of other EU institutions or can issue own-initiative opinions.

Economic and Social Committee

Created by the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Economic and Social Committee is a consultative body, consisting of 344 members, issues opinions on legislation. The members are appointed by the Council and the membership is roughly proportional to the populations of the Member States. The membership is divided into three equal groups that represent labor unions, professional bodies (accountants, physicians, attorneys, etc.) and other groups.

European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors audits the accounts and implements the budget of the EU and consists of representatives from each Member States. The Court issues an annual report, special reports and opinions.

European Central Bank

Member States that meet certain economic criteria and standards join the European Central Bank. The bank creates and implements monetary policy and is responsible for the issuance of the EU's common currency - the Euro.

EU Treatises and Texts

Robert Schütze, European Union law (2015), Law Library, 4th FloorEuropean Union Law is written with exceptional clarity, and constitutes a classic textbook for students and practitioners of European law.

Ralph H. Folsom, Principles of European Union law (4th ed, 2014) Law Library, 3rd Floor ReservePrinciples of European Union law, a hornbook, focuses on the history, growth and future of the European Union.

Written for people new to the topic, this book serves as an introduction to the law of the European Union. It provides an overview of how and why the EU developed. Discussion of the main institutions and types of law are included, as is a look at the interaction between EU law and the laws of the member states.

Overview of post-Lisbon treaty EU and how the various law-making bodies work.

T.C. Hartley, The Foundations of European Community Law (7th ed. 2010) KJE947 .H37 2010 2nd Floor

This book is a good introduction to the law of the European Union. Chapter 1 describes the legal basis for and function of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. Chapter 2 describes the structure and function of the EU's judicial system - the European Court of Justice and the General Court (and its predecessor, the Court of First Instance).

P.S.R.F. Mathijsen, A Guide to European Union Law: as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon (10th. ed. 2010) KJE947 .M38 2010 4th Floor

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to European Union institutions and EU. It presents an overview of the development of the EU and the responsibilities of the main institutions. There is also discussion relating to specific EU policies and a look at the EU's place in the world.

The official directory of the European Union, this database provides contact information for senior personnel of the European Union. Searchable by name, entity or hierarchical structure. There is a print version of this resource called the Official Directory of the European Union [JN27 .O34] available in the library on the 4th floor.

Electronic Databases

Databases are excellent resources for accessing EU materials. There are a variety of database options, each of which has its advantages. As an example, while Europa, the official EU database, has access to current materials, the commercial databases (Lawtel, Lexis and Westlaw) provide access to both current and older materials. The commercial databases also have more sophisticated search mechanisms. The scope of coverage and ease of use of the commercial databases can also be a factor in choosing the one to use. It is advisable to start with the interface with which one is most comfortable and then try the others.

This section is designed to serve as a general introduction to the databases. Specific access information for individual types of materials will be discussed in subsequent section.

Note: Database content in each of these products can change and the individual databases may or may not be comprehensive. As a general rule, the official sources available through Europa provide the most current information, more current than any of the commercial databases. It is important to check the descriptions of the content of the individual databases. In Lawtel, the descriptions are located within the Help and Content functions; in Westlaw and Lexis, there are informational icons listed after the database name.

The official web page of the European Union provides excellent access to official EU documents. Compared to the commercial databases, Europa offers the most current coverage, often including same day information. It contains links to the homepages of EU institutions and explains the functions and activities of these institutions. This portal has become a principal tool to improve the transparency of EU governance. Europa is an excellent resource for information when one is interested in a specific document or specific documents. The search function on Europa is basic and advanced searching can be problematic. While Europa is an excellent resource for recent EU materials, it does not contain a comprehensive archive of older materials. For older materials, it is necessary to use one of the commercial databases, such as Westlaw, Lexis or Lawtel. Europa provides a brief guide to the information sources on the website.

Lawtel EU is a subscription database which provides access to documents from all the official EU sources. This includes full text versions of the EU treaties, as well as legislation, press releases and background information related to their enactment. The database includes EU treaties since 1951, adopted and proposed legislation since 1989 and the majority of the adopted legislation since the founding of the EU. This database provides comprehensive access to cases from both the European Court of Justice and the General Court (and its predecessor, the Court of First Instance) since 1989, including information from the initial application to the final judgment. Full text of the opinions is available online for cases since 1997. The other individual databases in this resource date back to 1987. Subject and keyword searching is available either in individual or multiple databases. Lawtel provides detailed descriptions of the content of each database within the "Help" function. Lawtel provides updated information within 24 hours of publication in an official source.

WESTLAW

The Westlaw EU databases contain materials relating to case law, legislation, originating treaties and regulations. The database includes EU treaties since 1951, legislation since 1952, preparatory acts since 1975, and parliamentary questions since 1992. Case law dates back to 1954 for the European Court of Justice and 1989 for the General Court (and its predecessor, The Court of First Instance). There is access to periodical articles, and updates of current awareness materials. Currency within the databases varies, but Westlaw generally updates within 24 hours of publication. All EU materials have migrated to WestlawNext.

LEXIS

The old platform lexis.com contains older EU cases, from 1954 - 2013, and similarly older, not updated, EU legislation, though there is no clear cutoff date.

Treaties

The European Union has developed over the past four decades from the European Steel and Coal Community to the current supranational organization through the adoption and ratification of treaties.

The founding treaties are frequently referred to as "primary legislation." In contrast, "secondary legislation" refers to directives, regulations and other forms of law described in the LEGISLATION section below.

Following is a list of the founding treaties and their citations that provide the legal basis for the EU [See Appendix B Treaty Sources ]:

Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, April 18, 1951, 261 U.N.T.S. 140 (ECSC Treaty or Treaty of Paris). This treaty expires by its own terms on 23 July 2002.

The Treaty of Amsterdam renumbered the articles of the founding treaties. Citations to specific articles of the founding treaties prior to the ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 will be to the old numbering scheme of the treaty articles. A table of equivalences showing the correspondence between the old and new numbering scheme was published in the Official Journal on October 11, 1997 at O.J. 1997 C340/85. The table of equivalences is also available online as an appendix to The ABC of Community Law

Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, signed at Lisbon, 13 December 2007 O.J. (C 306). Articles, sections, chapters, titles and parts of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are renumbered (Treaty of Lisbon article 5 and Annex).

Accession Treaties

The EU has grown since its founding by admitting additional nations. New members of the EU must sign and ratify an accession treaty in order to join the EU. The accession treaties and their citations are listed below:

Accession to the European Communities of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Jan. 22, 1972, 1972 O.J. (L 73) (First Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Communities of the Hellenic Republic, May 28, 1979, 1973 O.J. (L 291) (Second Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Economic Communities of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic, June 12, 1985, 1985 O.J. (L 302) (Third Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Union of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, June 24, 1994, 1994 O.J. (C 241) (Fourth Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Union of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, June 24, 1994, 1994 O.J. (C 241) (Fourth Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic t, April 16, 2003, 2003 O.J. (L 236) (Fifth Accession Treaty).

Accession to the European Union of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, April 25, 2005, 2005 O.J. (L 157) (Sixth Accession Treaty).

Treaty of Accession of Croatia, April 24, 2012, 2012 O.J. (L 112)

The full text of the Accession Treaties is available on Europa. Please note that Eurlex is undergoing transitions. This page indicates that some treaties have not fully migrated to Eurlex's new platform.

Includes full text versions of the Nice Treaty, the EU Treaty and EC Treaty, both in the Maastricht version (from 1 November 1993) and the Amsterdam version (from 1 May 1999). The text of the Accession Treaty related to the 2004 Enlargement is also available. It is possible to search for legislation, press releases and background information related to the treaties and their enactment. Lawtel provides hyperlinks between the Maastricht and Amsterdam treaties, since the Amsterdam Treaty modified existing treaty article numbers. You will find the EU materials under the 'Specialist Areas' tab along the top.

Print Versions

Copies of the treaties are available in several commercial publications:

Smit & Herzog on The Law of the European Union (LexisNexis Matthew Bender) KJE947 .S632 4th Floor

This four-volume loose-leaf is a revised and updated edition of Smit and Herzog’s Law of the European Community: A Commentary on the EC Treaty. It analyzes the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community article-by-article, with commentary and references to relevant legislation and case law.

The main decision making process in the EU is called Ordinary Legislative Procedure. Ordinary Legislative Procedure takes the place of "Co-decision" which was the main vehicle by which EU decisions were made prior to December 2009 and the Treaty of Lisbon.

Regulations, which are directly applicable to Member States and require no further action to have legal effect.

Directives, which are addressed to and are binding on Member States, but the Member State may choose the method by which to implement the directive. Generally, a member state must enact national legislation to comply with a directive.

Decisions, which are binding on those parties to whom they are addressed.

Recommendations and Opinions, which have no binding force.

Official Journal of the European Union

The Official Journal (O.J.) of the European Union publishes the text of legislation and other official acts of the European Union. It contains treaties, all four types of legislation mentioned above, working papers, judgments of the European Court of Justice, proposals for legislation, and other official communications between EU institutions. Prior to 2003, this publication was called the Official Journal of the European Communities. Before 1973 when the United Kingdom and Ireland joined the EU, the O.J. was not published in English. Currently, the O.J. is published daily in all the official languages of the EU. To the U.S. researcher, the O.J. is a combination of the Statutes at Large, the U.S. Treaty series, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register and the Congressional Record.

There are five components to the Official Journal:

Legislation - L Series contains regulations and directives adopted by the Commission or the Council alone or jointly with the European Parliament. Prior to 1968, the Official Journal was not divided into the L and C series.

Communications - C Series contains non-binding decisions of the EU institutions such as communications of the Commission on various topics, Court judgments, opinions of the Committee of the Regions or the Economic and Social Council.

Communications - CE Series contains Commission proposals since July 1999. It is only available in an electronic version on EurLex, Westlaw, or Lexis. A table of contents of the electronic CE series is published in the C Series.

Annex-Debates contains verbatim reports of the plenary sessions of the European Parliament. The Annex-Debates ceased publication after the May 1999 parliamentary session.

In 1973, most EU legislation then in effect was translated into English.

Official Journal CE Series

Beginning in July 1999, major European Commission proposals are available in the CE Series. The full text of the CE Series is available on EurLex, Westlaw, and Lexis. A table of contents of each CE issue is published in the print version of the C series.

Electronic Versions

The Official Journal is also available in electronic form in the following databases:

Journals from 1952 forward are available on the Web. All are in .pdf format

Westlaw

L Series has coverage from 1952-present

C Series - has coverage from 1992 to present

Documents published after 1997 are available in PDF

Lexis.com

Eu Legislation is available through the older platform lexis.com, as mentioned several times in this guide, but it remains unclear when within the last three years lexis.com stopped updating its EU content.

How to Find a Document When You Have a Citation to the OJ

A regulation is generally cited by its number, then its year. In contrast, a directive is cited by its year first, then its number.

Example: Council Regulation No. 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, 2001 O.J. (L 12) 1.

This Regulation is in the L Series of the OJ in the 2001 volume containing issue 12 for that year at page 1.

How to Find a Regulation or Directive When You Have Only the Year and Number of the Document

Example: First Council Directive 77/780 on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, 1977 O.J. (L 322) 30.

Assuming you do not have a citation to the Official Journal, but only the year and number, search:

In lexis.com, the document segment Title with "77/780"

In Westlaw, the field Title with "77/780"

In EurLex, search the Legislation database by Document Number

In Lawtel, search the Adopted Legislation or Proposed Legislation databases by Document Number

The Chronological Index of Volume II of the Directory ofCommunity Legislation in Force ("CLIF" located in 3 rd Floor Reference JX1981 .R261) can also help find an OJ citation to an EU official document. In the Chronological Index, documents are organized by document sector, by year and then by CELEX number. By cross-referencing to Volume I of CLIF, you can locate the specific OJ citation.

How to Find EU Documents by CELEX Number

CELEX is the official database of documents used by EU officials and available to others by subscription. Each document in the CELEX database is assigned a unique CELEX number. See the section entitled "Information for Readers" at the beginning of Volume II of CLIF for more information on interpreting CELEX numbers. Because the EU databases on Westlaw and LexisNexis are derived from CELEX, the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library does not subscribe to CELEX.

To find documents by CELEX number, search

In Westlaw in the Field Restriction called "Celex-number" or use the field name CLX

Note: A Celex number is normally a series of 10 alphanumeric symbols. In Westlaw, the Celex number does not contain the first two digits of the year of publication ("19" or "20") and therefore consists of 8 symbols.

Example: Celex number is 41987D0597.

In Westlaw, use 487D0597.

In Lawtel, in any of the databases, search by entering the full 10 symbol CELEX number in the text box.

How to Find EU Legislation by Subject

Frequently, you will want to find EU legislation on a particular legal topic. Unlike the federal statutes in the United States, there is no official codification of EU legislation. However, there are several sources that provide subject access to EU law. Searching electronic databases such as Westlaw may be "easier," but a search of print sources frequently is more effective and efficient.

Electronic Databases

Similar to legal research in the U.S., legal research in European Union law can be done effectively with Westlaw and Lexis. Lawtel is also available for EU legislative research.

In Lawtel, one has the the ability to focus the search to proposed or adopted legislation. It is also possible to search press releases, background information and notices from the EU legislative bodies.

In Westlaw, select International Law from the WestlawNext landing page. Then choose European Union.

In EurLex, search multiple databases such as the OJ, Legislation in Preparation, Legislation, Treaties, and Case Law. Europa generally does not include pre-1997 documents and its search engine is not as sophisticated as the searching software in Westlaw and Lexis.

This web page provides summaries of EU activities, organized by subject area. The page is organized to allow multiple serch strategies. It is possible to choose a broad subject and review the summary Keyword searching is also available and there is an A-Z Index of the contents.

Available on Eurlex, this database includes legislation classified according to the Directory of Community legislation. Legislation is organized into 20 chapters based on subject.The electronic version contains hypertext links to EU documents. Some are available in PDF. Eurlex has also consolidated the legislation so you can view the legislation and all of its various modifications.

In Print

European Union Law Reporter (also known as European Community Cases) KJE6791.A7 E961 4th Floor

This loose-leaf service published by CCH was mentioned earlier under Introductory Texts and Treaties. Vol. 4 contains a useful topical index to an analysis of EU law which contains citations to the Official Journal.

How to Find Other Documents Related to the Legislative Process

COM Documents

Commission Documents, also known as COM documents, include legislative proposals, communications and reports such as "green papers" or "white papers" issued by the staff of the Commission. COM documents are numbered sequentially each year and are referenced by number and date.

Example: COM (2002) 0018, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament towards an Integrated European Railway Area.

Most of these documents (without the useful explanatory memorandum) were published in the OJ C series until June 1999. After June 1999 selected COM documents are available in the electronic Official Journal CE series on EurLex.

Council Documents

Prior to 1999, Council documents typically were kept confidential. Due to provisions in the Treaty of Amsterdam and a general policy of transparency in EU decision-making, more Council documents are being made public. Since the Treaty of Lisbon went into force in December, 2009, special transparent measures have been followed which can be found in Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). More information on Legislative Transparency can be found on the Council's website.

Parliamentary Documents and Reports

The European Parliament has created a database that tracks parliamentary action on legislative proposals. The database can be searched by multiple criteria such as keywords, stage of legislative procedure, etc. An index of legislative action by subject is also available.

Committee of the Regions Documents

The official web site contains searchable databases of opinions and resolutions of the Committee. Press releases and the Committee's recent Activity Reports are also available.

Status of Legislation

To verify the status of proposed legislation or to learn more about the steps in the enactment of a particular legislative proposal, the following two databases are useful.

PreLex is a database maintained by the European Commission that collects the documents issued at each step of the legislative process. It is searchable by keyword, document number, citation, etc. and includes hypertext links to relevant documents.

The Legislative Observatory. Maintained by the European Parliament, OEIL provides a synopsis of legislative procedures taken in enacting legislation. Searchable by document number, title of document and other means.

RAPID is a searchable database of press releases by various EU institutions. Frequently, press releases are the quickest and easiest way to learn of new developments in EU law.

National Implementing Legislation

As mentioned above, there are four principal types of EU legislation. While regulations are directly applicable to member states, directives require legislative action on the part of each member country. National implementing legislation must be enacted to enforce the objective of a directive.

In order to determine if national legislation has been enacted in response to EU legislation, the researcher has several aids.

The application of community law is gathered in reports on this website. It includes sections on a Calendar for transposition of Directives; Progress in notification of national measures implementing directives; Infringements; and State Aids.

In Westlaw, there is a section at the end of each directive entitled "Implementation." In that section are listed the national laws that were enacted in response to that particular piece of legislation.

Originally, this was a monthly publication of the important national legislation passed in Western Europe, including national legislation implementing EU directives and English translations of selected statutes. Beginning in 1990, the Commercial Laws of Europe became a yearly compilation. As part of the table of contents, volumes of this text include "E.C. Legislation Implemented", which chronologically lists the directive numbers and information relating to the tilte of the national legislation and the member country.

Case Law

Created by the Treaty of Rome, the European Court of Justice interprets and applies European Union law as found in the EU treaties and legislation. The founding treaties state that the Court "shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed." The court sits in Luxembourg and the working language of the court is French. A case may be brought in any of the official languages of the EU and one language will be designated the language of the case (generally the language of the national court referring the case). English did not become an official EU language until the United Kingdom joined the EU in 1973. The European Court of Justice is separate and distinct from the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

The ECJ has broad jurisdiction in EU matters and its decisions have the force of law in the Member States of the EU. Decisions of the ECJ can override national legislation and decisions of national courts that are deemed contrary to the provisions of EU treaties and legislation.

The General Court , created in 1989 to relieve the case load of the ECJ, (and which was known as the Court of First Instance prior to 2010), principally hears cases dealing with competition law, dumping, subsidies and staff grievances. Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the European Court of Justice.

Official Publications

Curia is the official website for the European Court of Justice and the General Court (known as the Court of First Instance prior to 2010). It provides a description of the institutions and their history and composition. It also provides access to the decisions of both courts. On Curia's main page there is a guide for users which explains the search methods available for case law. The Case Law page provides access to the search forms and chronological lists of the cases decided by both the European Court of Justice and the General Court. Decisions since June 1997 are available on the Web and full text searching is possible for both courts. Decisions are available by case number since the European Court of Justice's inception in 1953. After 1989, case numbers for the European Court of Justice begin with "C-". Decisions of the General Court and its predecessor, The Court of First Instance are available by case number since the Court's inception in 1989. Case numbers for the General Court/Court of First Instance begin with "T-".

Reports of Cases before the Court
(commonly known as the European Court Reports or ECR) KJE924.5 .R471
Holdings: 1954 to present
Latest opinions are located in 3rd Floor Reserve

Official reporter of cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The ECR is divided into three sections: I refers to decisions from the European Court of Justice; II refers to decisions from the General Court and its predecessor, the Court of First Instance; III refers to staff cases. Publication of decisions in this reporter is frequently delayed by 18 months or longer due to the need to translate them in to all the official languages of the EU.

Annual Report: Synopsis of the Work of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European CommunititesJX1984.E3 R299 2nd Floor

This resource provides information of the activities of the Court of Justice and the General Court. There are summaries of the cases heard, information of the current judges and changes in the membership over the year. Detailed statistical information is presented relating to numbers and types of cases heard by each court. CURIA provides online access to the case summaries and statiistics from the Annual Reports.

The Official Journal (C Series) publishes court orders and judgments and lists of cases filed before the European Court of Justice.

Finding Aids for EU Case Law by Subject

The European Court of Justice makes available the following sources on its web site. These are accessed by using the "Research Tools" link.

Electronic Databases (Case Law)

Under case-law you can find the judgments of the European Court of Justice and of the General Court, as well as the opinions of the Advocates-General, as published in the European Court Reports and as provisional texts disseminated earlier by the Court of Justice. Full text of the opinions is available online for cases since 1998. Although not all of the cases come in .pdf format, many of them do.

This database provides comprehensive access to cases from both the European Court of Justice and the General Court (and its predecessor the Court of First Instance) since 1989, including information from the initial application to the final judgment. Full text of the opinions is available online for cases since 1997. The database is updated regularly, with new cases added within twenty-four hours of their appearance on the Court of Justice website.

WESTLAW

Contains European case law from both the official European Court Reports as well as selected commercial law reporters of European Union case law.

Lexis

As mentioned several times, the older platform, lexis.com contains 1954-2013 European Union cases. Full-text, English language judgments, opinions of the Advocate General, and orders from the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of First Instance (aka General Court), and Civil Service Tribunal. Contact a librarian or a Lexis Rep if you need guidance.

Selected cases from both the European Court of Justice and the appellate courts of individual member nations that resolve questions of European Union law. Published weekly, this is a roundup of actions of the European Court of Justice.

The text of the Reports since 1997 are available on Europa, as are summaries of 1995 and 1996 Reports.

EU Publications

The EU Publications Information Page provides a reference list of all the EU institutions and agencies websites and the publications available through them. Additionally, there are links to libraries and archives of older materials.

Publications Office

The Publications Office is responsible for producing and distributing EU publications on all media and by all means. It distributes a quarterly newsletter, updating released EU publications and the most recent releases are highlighted on the home page. The website provides information on online access of select publications, as well as ordering instructions.

Journals and Periodicals

There are numerous journals and periodicals that report on and analyze EU legal developments. This section highlights finding aids and a very selective list of journals that may be particularly useful in EU legal research. For additional information on finding legal and non-legal articles, please see Finding Books and Articles on International and Foreign Law.

LAWTEL includes an "Articles Index" providing article abstracts from journals that specialize in European Union law. Coverage varies depending on individual journals, with the earliest beginning in 1999. Also of interest is the "Commentary" section which includes expert commentary on specific aspects or new developments of European Union law.

ECLAS is the catalog of the European Commission Library. It includes documents on European affairs as well as the departmental collections of 20 directorates general. The catalog also includes web resources and secondary sources that were previously cataloged in SCAD. This database is an index and does not contain full-text documents.

Legal Journals Index and European Legal Journals Index

Available on Westlaw, this database indexes articles from legal journals published in the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as journals covering topics pertaining to the law of the European Union and its member states. Westlaw coverage is 1986 to the present.

Note: This database includes up-to-date information that used to be covered in the print indexes, Legal Journals Index and European Legal Journals Index, both of which have ceased publication.

European Union Depository Libraries

With the extensive EU collection in the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, a researcher would usually not need to visit another library to obtain official documentation of the European Union or secondary source material on EU law. If you are unable to locate a document or information you need or you simply need some guidance on your EU research, please stop by the Reference Office on the 3 rd floor of the Law Library and ask for assistance from a reference librarian .

However, the European Union does maintain depository libraries in the United States and throughout the world. Depository libraries receive most official EU publications at no charge and in exchange provide access to the public to these EU materials. The Arthur W. Diamond Law Library is not an EU depository library. The Delegation of the European Commission in the USA provides a complete listing of EU depository libraries in the United States on their website.

The following libraries in the New York City area are EU depository libraries: